There has been a lot of interest in recent years about how consumers understand and use the nutrition information on food labels to assist them in making healthier food choices.
However, the food safety components on food labels, such as ‘use by’ and ‘best before’ dates, as well as cooking and storage instructions, have received less attention. This is despite the fact that this labelling, if followed correctly, plays an important role in reducing the risk of foodborne illness.
It was concerning that only 43% of respondents reported they always/mostly read and complied with cooking instructions and only 56% with storage instructions as these are both important means of reducing the risk of foodborne illness.
